Weeding out industry blight

Jan. 1, 2020
The truth is all shops are faced with a reality that most consumers don

A friend of mine has been trying to sell his house for a couple months now with only marginal interest. The neighborhood is suburban middle-class and his kids play with little fear of gunshots or other vices. Local public schools are decent and there’s easy access to amenities like shopping, mass transit and community recreation. There’s even an annual block party with games, food and drink, and a softball game in a nearby field. In short, it’s not a bad place to live.

What’s apparently hurting him is a noticeable eyesore next door…a two-story Colonial owned by a neighbor who thinks dandelions are a form of Kentucky bluegrass. The chipped paint and falling gutters would standout like a vegetarian at a barbecue were it not for the overgrown shrubs covering most of the house. A mixed-breed of some form barks at the sign of squirrels, cars, air…pretty much anything that moves.

At some point soon my friend feels like he has a decision to make—lower the price of his house below its real value or confront the guy next door about taking more of an interest in home maintenance. If he opts for the latter there’s a good chance the conversation won’t be pleasant and won’t yield the desired results. On the other hand, perhaps the guy doesn’t even realize his home is the cause of societal blight.

In the collision repair industry you have clueless neighbors, too, and they’re ruining your business. These guys don’t care about the quality of their work and their shoddy repairs are financially damaging to your business. That’s what you told us in a recent online survey. Seventy-five percent of you said shoddy repairs at nearby shops are having a negative financial impact on your business. It’s nearly impossible to tabulate the alleged losses, but the fact of the matter is 190 respondents out of 253 believe their bottom-line profits are being impacted by inept neighbors.

In our story “Bad Business,” Contributing Editor Tim Sramcik starts a three-part series that examines the issue of shoddy repairs and how you are being hurt by the actions of other operators. It’s not a simple issue to dissect, and it’s certainly not a topic that is going to have any clear-cut solutions. But the truth is all shops are faced with a reality that most consumers don’t trust them. That lack of trust partly stems from poor performance in the bays and paint booths. And if a customer can’t trust you, regardless of how much they need your services, your business will suffer.

You might look at your annual profits and feel pretty confident that bad shops aren’t hurting you financially. But if bad jobs have to be redone aren’t we all suffering—consumers and shops alike? Consider that faulty repairs need to be corrected and often that means insurers are shelling out more money to have repair problems fixed at quality shops. At the end of the day consumers are paying higher premiums and you’re being squeezed because of those higher costs associated with shoddy repair work. Certainly that’s not the only reason you’re being pressured by insurers, but the reality is there’s a price to be paid for letting bad shops continue to function as they always have.

When our three-part series concludes, you’re going to have a choice to make that’s similar to the one facing my friend. You can let your shop lose its value and profits, or you can confront those operators who are hurting your business and ask them to raise the level of their repairs. The conversation won’t be pleasant, but a little awareness might get them involved in training programs or other actions that improve their work, our industry and your bottom line.

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